Facebook has been accused of another wave of censorship in Taiwan, banning posts with the digits “426” — a slang expression used by people on the island that roughly translates as “damned mainlanders,” referring to their neighbors across the strait in Communist-run China.

The American social media giant — which is banned in mainland China — has been accusing Taiwan users who write “426” in their posts of spreading hate speech, violating one of its key community standards.

The clampdown came to light when Facebook warned one influencer specializing in tech and electronic goods after he published a post that contained “426” on Dec. 8. The influencer, who has nearly 340,000 Facebook followers, shared a post on an air fryer with the brand name 422. He wrote: “Luckily it’s not 426.”

Facebook accused him of spreading hate speech and he wasn’t allowed to post anything for 24 hours.

The influencer then used a different account to write the same post, but this time he changed “426” from digits to Chinese characters. That account received the same warning and was also banned for 24 hours.

Both the influencer and netizens were stunned by Facebook’s censorship.

The digits “426,” if pronounced in Mandarin or Putonghua, are deemed insulting to mainland Chinese.

The incident sparked intense discussions online. Netizens questioned if Facebook’s hate speech censors are controlled by mainland Chinese. “How many more words or phrases are considered by Facebook as insulting to mainland Chinese?” one user asked.

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